The reason for the development of this tool arises from the fact that I developed a special sweeper for the road building industry.  This was designed for sweeping gravel out of the kerb up to 6" thick.  Over the years I have fielded enquiries as to whether this would do for cleaning the corners in the chicken runs.  The answer was no because the load would be on the side of the brush and the operators knuckles would be up against the wall.

When a salesman came back with several enquiries over a short period of time we decided to tackle the problem even though the business is centred on construction equipment. Since I have some experience with chickens and my brother is a chicken farmer I had some ideas to work with. Two have been built, the first being cut up after initial field trials.  The second is the one pictured.

The problem is getting the corner cleaned and then getting the bedding material away from the wall to where the tractor or bobcat can get it without damaging the walls.  Since the chickens run along the wall this material is fairly well compacted.  A stiff brush angled at about 60 degrees was chosen.  To meet the first requirement it needs to be tipped into the corner therefore the machine's wheels are height adjustable.  Next the area in front of the machine needs to be cleaned so the rear of the deck needs to be adjustable as well. In other words the brush needs to be tipped to the side and the front.

The next consideration is the sideways thrust of the brush and when moving the sort of material we are talking about this is considerable.  This and the foregoing requirements are the reason for the peculiar positioning of the wheels.

Another good principle is to keep things simple.  By tipping the whole deck we keep the mechanics very simple, meeting not only the foregoing requirements but also allowing for the wear of the brush.  Having done all this field trials showed that it was still possible to be dragged into the corner when the brush met extra resistance [work]. So a wheel was added on the top deck to run against the wall as a depth control.  This too is adjustable to allow for the wear of the brush.

In order to minimise the generation of dust the speed of the brush has been greatly reduced and to do this vee belts and pulleys have been used.  Anyone can readily understand, adjust and fix such an arrangement.  Should the demand warrant it, a more compact arrangement can be used but this involves a special reduction box and to warrant this expense production numbers are needed.